"I was determined to have as natural a birth as possible": Amelie's birth

Share

In this article

Antonia and Carl are originally from New Orleans, but are now settled in Manchester. This is Antonia's story of her efforts to have a natural birth at a birth centre.

Inducing labour through exercise

I was due on 11 December, but knew I wouldn't be on time. Instead, I went to pick up my mum and meemaw (grandmother) from the airport. They flew in from Texas in the hope of meeting the new addition to our family.

During their time in the UK, I took them to all of the sights, walking as much as we could and staying very active. I exercised throughout my pregnancy in the hope of an easy labour. The extra walking and activities became the trigger I was hoping for.

I went in for a routine visit to the midwife and asked to be checked. It turned out I was already 3cm dilated! After a membrane sweep, we took another long walk around the local shopping centre to get things going, although I didn't begin to feel contractions until later that evening at dinner.

Contractions were every seven minutes, each one lasting about a minute. The pain was very bearable with my TENS machine, birthing ball and aromatherapy. My husband Carl was at his work's Christmas do, so we phoned him at about 11pm to ask him to come home.

The pains began to get stronger and closer together as the night went on, but we didn't phone the hospital until 3am. To our horror, the midwife-led birth centre was short on night staff and was closed until 8am.

I was determined to have as natural a birth as possible, avoiding machines, injections and so on. I knew that I'd be in less control of the birth if I went into hospital then. Instead, I took two paracetamol and went to bed, hoping to be able to hold out until the birth centre opened. And I did.

Having my baby at a birth centre

I woke up as fresh as a daisy at about 10am with no contractions. An energising breakfast and a nice long walk around the block got me right back to where I was the night before. So with my TENS machine, overnight bag and infant carrier in tow, we started to make our way to the birth centre.

When we arrived, we were shown into the birth pool room and immediately put at rest. No machines, no mechanical beds, and a brilliant midwife, Dot.

Dot had a feel of the baby, quickly checked the heart rate, and then examined me. I was 5cm dilated! A few more birthing ball stretches while the pool filled up, and then in I went. Although I had attended aquanatal classes throughout my pregnancy, the water felt especially good.

It was so calming and I felt weightless. My lower back pain seemed to vanish. Time went on and all was well... until Dot left me alone in the pool. Silly her.

The water started to feel a bit cool, so I turned on the hot water tap, not realising the consequences. Next time she checked the baby, the heart rate was a bit high, so I had to get out.

How I coped with labour pains

Dot checked me over again and I was making good progress - 6cm. To prevent the baby getting in too much distress, she asked to break my waters to help move the baby along. Stupidly, I agreed. It wasn't the process of breaking my waters that hurt, it was the way in which my body reacted to it.

I was out of the water and couldn't reach my TENS machine quick enough! My body was unable to cope with the massive increase in pain in such a short time. After Dot broke my waters, I went from 6cm to 10cm within 25 minutes. I was begging for an epidural at that point, but was told I was too far along.

My mother also reminded me that I would be upset with myself afterwards if I did get an epidural, and she was right. I was on all fours by the side of the bed hitting the floor with my bare fist. Oh, the pain! It was like nothing I had ever felt before in my life. I couldn't have even imagined the pain before that moment.

It took my mum, Carl, and two midwives to get me on to the bed. I didn't want to lie down, but I didn't want to stay on the floor either. I was in such a state, I kind of shut down and closed in on myself. It was just me, and me alone, who was going to get this little baby out.

As I started to push, my mother kept saying, "Push, push, push Antonia!" and I just lost it. I had to tell her to shut up on more than one occasion. I focused on the days ahead, holding our little baby, enjoying Christmas, New Year. After an hour of screaming and hard pushing, Amelie Grace blessed us with her presence.

Meeting my new baby

We didn't know the gender of our baby, so it was really nice to have a little girl. Carl and I were both secretly hoping for that. Amelie weighed in at 3.2kg (7lbs 2oz) and was 53.3cm (21in) long. They put her on to my chest and immediately she started to feed. What an awesome feeling!

In the midst of all our joy, though, the midwife announced that she'd have to cut the cord - something I definitely did not want to be done before it stopped pulsating. Lynn (our second midwife) told us that I was at risk of losing too much blood and needed to get the placenta delivered quickly. Reluctantly, I agreed.

I then finally got gas and air for the stitches that needed to be put in. The doctor was taking ages doing them, and I asked what was taking so long. Her only reply was, "You want them to look good, don't you?" I didn't ask any more questions after that.

All that mattered was that I had our beautiful little girl in my arms and we were all happy and healthy. My meemaw, a mother 13 times over, then told me that I had the loudest birth she had ever heard. I apologised to the midwives later - I felt so guilty for being mouthy and loud. But boy (or should I say girl), it was worth it!

My labour and birth was everything I wanted and more! I have relived that experience every Friday for the past 13 weeks, and I can't wait to do it again for real!

Last reviewed: August 2017

advertisement

Share

Track your baby’s development

Join now to receive free weekly newsletters tracking your baby’s development and yours throughout your pregnancy.

I gave birth to my first baby 2 years ago and went through 3 days of labour and the birth without any pain relief. The only reason the birth was so natural was because a midwife sent me home refusing to believe that I was in active labour only for me to be rushed in by ambulance around an hour later pushing. I would like to make a point of saying that I do not feel I achieved any more than a woman who received an epidural or any other type of intervention. In fact, I truly believe that had I the option of good pain relief I would surely have taken more from the experience as being in such acute pain takes you out of your body a little making the memory of the birth a little hazy. Giving birth to another human being is a miracle and the greatest achievement on earth, whether or not you needed pain relief or a cesarean along the way is irrelevant.

I think this was a great story. Real and honest. If you are about to have your first then I'm afraid to say.....it hurts! It does. There is no point avoiding the fact. There is also often not time for any pain relief. Stories like this are good too hear incase you don't have time for pain relief......you can still get through it. It's not easy but you will.

You All Need To Stop Hating On Her Seriously You Guys Make Me Sick Don't You People Know How To criticize positively I mean the lady was just enjoying her pregnancy if it was you I know you will want people to say nice things so you need to say nice things to her

We want to make your experience easy and help you quickly find information that matters to you. By using our site, we assume that you consent to our use of these cookies. To learn more about our cookies, including how to opt out, please review our privacy policy.

Alternative therapies and fertility
Can alternative therapies help you to conceive? From reflexology to acupuncture, find out whether complementary therapies have the power to boost your fertility and bring you that positive pregnancy test.

Meet other mums!
In your Birth Club, you can meet other mums and mums-to-be whose due date, or baby's birth date, is the same as yours. It's the perfect place to share advice, support and friendship with others who know what you're going through, because they are too!